monkie

No harm in double checking, but I'm confident there is no excessive play in the wheel bearings

I haven't thought of this. Don't they check for that in the MOT? Would this manifest itself with the vehicle stationary?

As I drive it mostly empty, I always use the brakes carefully so as not to lock the wheels up. I always think the brakes are bloody good on an unladen 110 that is in its mid thirties

1988 110 with Defender spec 200Tdi fitted, discs on front, drums on rear. Had an MOT on Friday. The tester commented that the pedal travels a bit far on the first go but then the pedal feels firm on the second go. They then said I'm probably used to it. They were right, I hadn't noticed, but now he's said I do notice it. There are no leaks, the fluid level isn't dropping, I adjusted the rear brakes in the summer (I will double check them). Beyond double checking the rear brake adjustment and maybe bleeding the system, is there anything else I should check?

I think the above is 100% what you should do. It would also look great if you polished it up.

If you are struggling to find one, maybe you could make one from some copper pipe, using your old one as a template for the bends, held in place with clips?

I don't think it will based upon the two pictures I found by doing a quick Google search. (Not my pictures, they are from engines for sale on eBay) The pictures clearly show the issue I think you'll run into

I think you've answered your own point... Regulation. Solar panels are an example of this. The EU had the first legislation around recycling solar panels, this is now spreading across the world including China.

I don't think you have any experience of driving a Tesla as it isn't necessary to scroll through menus to control the cabin temperature or operate other things like the radio, lights, wipers etc. whilst driving. It's very easy to control, so isn't a valid argument against them at all. I can't speak for other cars with a touch screen as I don't know. I agree much more needs to be done in terms of recycling metals from EVs, but like a say this is in progress and happening at a pace so I would point to it as an argument to support EVs as the metals will happily sit there until we recycle them, they aren't being chemically poisoned. I wouldn't say China is a great place in general to look at for examples of good environmental practice right now.

There are several companies in their infancy who are seeking to recycle EV metals, American Battery Metals being an example I know of in the USA. Because we aren't doing something well now, doesn't mean that won't change in the future - it will have to change. But to my wider point, to my understanding there is much greater scope to recover and recycle metals from EVs than it is to recover and recycle metals associated with cleaning up oil based fuels. Fiddling about with anything in a car whilst driving is a distraction. Fiddling about countless switches all over the place is as equally distracting as fiddling about with a touch screen. I would argue that trying to find something from a single touch screen is preferable to me than buttons all over the dash, steering wheel and console. Banning touch screens wouldn't do anything to improve road safety in my opinion. Better and continuous mandatory driver training is what is needed, but that's a different subject entirely.

I was worried about the build quality of a Tesla before I tested one. I think they have addressed this because there is nothing wrong with the one I have (72 reg) and is better apparent build quality than many other cars I've had. There are many now that have covered huge mileage and are still going strong. As for the screen - you get used to that in the first 30 miles of driving and not having to deal with loads of daft little buttons and switches all over the place is so refreshing. I had to use a hire car for work a few months ago while my Tesla was having some bodywork done (something falling off a lorry hit it), the hire car was a 23 reg ICE car, it felt like I had gone backwards in time several steps and I couldn't wait to get rid of it. But this is personal preference, you don't have to have a Tesla if you wanted to have an EV. There are rightly environmental concerns, there is a cost to everything - again I think these are exaggerated on both sides of the debate. However it's clear to most that burning fossil fuels must come to an end. When people talk about the impact metals for EVs have they often don't realise that fuels have a lot of CO2 associated with them from the production and distribution before you even burn them. Also metals on large quantity (eg cobalt) are required for removing sulfur (and other processes) from petrol and diesel. I understand that some of these metals can't always be recycled and must be dumped, whereas metals used in EVs can be recycled for making new EVs in the future.

And EVs are so smooth and easy to drive. I've got to the point now where I don't want to drive my wife's diesel car because it's slow, noisy, manual gearbox and I'm finding myself using my land Rover less and less.

@Chicken Drumstick No point batting the ball back to me, I'm not making claims about numbers. I simply don't know what the numbers are, which is why I asked. I do however think various people in the press are keen to jump to conclusions to fit an agenda (either pro or anti EV/ICE). I still think that you are coming from a point of view of assuming what it is like to run an EV on a day to day basis. I too once held these views, but now my (plus many colleagues) experience of using an EV day to day (no they don't all have home charging) totally contradicts these views as simply wrong. Like any car, irrespective of what powers it, you have to look at what works for how you want to use it and what fits within your budget. I'm more than happy to admit that my once anti EV views were completely wrong and based on a bunch of assumptions.

I don't want to get argumentative about this. I don't appreciate the use of the word ignorant especially when I'm not the ignorant one... as I have stated, I own and drive an EV so I am coming from a position of experience here, not feeling or stuff I read in the press. I asked for some facts because you are talking about EVs catching fire, seemingly more so than ICE... maybe so, maybe not, I wondered if you could point to some facts and numbers to back your conviction on this. I do have a drive way with a charger, so I accept that point, however I did state that I spend a lot of time away from home in the week with no access to overnight charging. Yes, Tesla supercharging is for Tesla (a Tesla at least will direct to a choice of nearest charging points). This however isn't the only type of supercharging available. Colleagues and friends of mine have other EVs such as Volvo, VW, Hyundai and they use other types of supercharging no problem. I use public chargers 3 or 4 times per week and they are without exception en route to where I'm going or at my destination. So I don't recognize your point about chargers not being where I want to be. New cars are not at all cheap, EVs more so I agree. But now many people like me who use an EV for work, they will in time filter down to the secondhand market.

No, not at all belittling the fire risk - I actually think you might be with an ICE car? A battery after all holds a high concentration of stored energy just like a fuel tank, if that energy is released in an uncontrolled way, you'll likely get a fire. My point about ICE cars isn't really realted so much to the fuel tank, but the 12V electrics. I think most of us have had close moments with our wiring on old Land Rovers - I know I have when working on the pre-heating system for the glowplugs and I accidentally earthed a live wire! My experience with driving an EV is real world day-to-day driving large distances over England/Wales (draw a line from Norwich down to Swansea and I cover that whole area). I ofen stay over in hotels that don't have overnight charging so I am reliant upon the supercharging network which is awesome. I have also driven up to Scotland and again not had any issues charging. If I stop for a toilet break/bite to eat/phone call, I plug my car in to keep topped up. Can you give some figures from a reliable source regarding spontaineous EV fires directly related to the battery? I now look at it this way - imagine if we lived in a world where we had all been driving EVs for decades and it was all we knew but then for whatever the reason there was a shift to newly fangled petrol or diesel cars. Can you imagine the backlash and people making the following arguments? The Daily Mail would be having a field day! They are slow They smell The fuel smells The fuel is toxic Where can I buy petrol/diesel from? Who has a petrol pump in their garden? What if the fuel tank leaks? What if I run out of fuel? The engine is complex and will break down I need to get it serviced The fumes can kill you Look up a video of somone setting fire to can of petrol You actually have to get out of your car and pay for the petrol What if I put the wrong fuel in my car... But today many of us accept all of the above as normal. One day very soon, we will accept EVs as normal and those of us who still drive round in ICE vehicles will be considered somesort of Fred Dibnah character.

I have one and drive miles and miles for work most days. I had loads of concerns about infrastructure before I had one and I can now categorically tell you from personal experience that this is not the case (in England). Any car can catch fire.

I don't think this is necessarily down to a fire risk though - @Daan hit the nail on the head above with the comment about bad electrical connections which of course applies equally to 12v electrics in ICE cars. I understand that on some EVs when something fails and can't be repaired the car has been written off. We are still very much in the early days.

Are you planning on getting one? I've had an EV (Tesla) since March for work. I've covered 20K miles in it to date all over the UK and I now wouldn't ever consider going back to an ICE car other than my Land Rover. I don't know the answer to your question, but I'm sure it's been accounted for. We have a whole fleet of EVs at work (at least 250 by now if not more - a mixture of different ones, not just Tesla) and no one has burst into flames yet. What about the batteries in mobile phones? They are most certainly subject to a lot of shock and people carry them in their pockets without a second thought.

Amen to that, this is a good lesson for us all. It's a killer alright. Don't leave it to the morning and see how you are, you can downhill amazingly fast. Get yourself to hospital ASAP!

I'm sorry to hear of what you and your family have been through, it sounds horrific. Hopefully you are well on the road to full recovery now. Good to you see back on here.

I thought 21L was a 300Tdi engine? One of the easiest ways to tell a 300Tdi engine from a 200Tdi is the belt at the front of the engine. A 300Tdi has a single serpentine belt driving the PAS pump, alternator and water pump/fan. Whereas a 200Tdi has two separate belts, 1 drives the alternator and the coolant pump/fan, the other drives the PAS pump.

What is leading you to consider this swap?

I wonder if the OP has a 19J sender but a gauge from a petrol variant if their Land Rover was originally fitted with a petrol engine. My suggestion would be to cut your losses and get an aftermarket gauge with corresponding sender.

Isn't this a potential case of the type of sender not matching the corresponding type of gauge following an engine swap?

I see, thank you